Fawndolyn Valentine Special Report on Bernarr MacFadden Sex Book !

MacFadden Sex Books Fester and Mold  Photograph by Fawndolyn Valentine

I first made fun (rather I shared my pithy observations) on physical culture freak supreme Bernarr Macfadden several years ago, and hardly a day goes by that I wish I could drum up another post on him.  Imagine my surprise, not long after doing my SECOND post on Bernarr and his absurd criticism of the Kinsey Report, when I looked in the virtual mailbox to see it had reached the eyes of the brilliant Fawndolyn Valentine.   Fawn sent me a photo of a steaming, festering PILE of them moldering away on a factory floor fifty years after publication!  A mystery far too important and complex for me to figure out, but WAY too important for it to go away! 

So Fawndolyn has kindly agreed to share the story in all glorious detail!  Thank you Fawndolyn!

"I was directed to your blog when a friend saw a photo I took at an abandoned printing press.  The only book they printed was the Man's Sex Life book.


This is at "McFadden's Castle on the Hill", which is located in Dansville, NY.  It started as the Jackson Sanitorium, and housed 'invalids', the overworked/mentally exhausted, and ptsd'd soldiers, and was called a Health Spa.

When McFadden bought it, he used it as a fitness resort hotel (did you know the guy was a body builder? And he was one of the most successful magazine publishers in the world, founded on his fitness magazine). The cottages surrounding the castle housed the workers and caretakers, and the biggest cottage is where they pressed and stored Man's Sex
Life.  The whole place is littered with them (here is a closeup of the floor in front of the entrance to the cottage:

Photo by Fawndolyn Valentine

Now the castle and the cottages are falling to pieces, but they make for a great daytime adventure for urban explorers.

Here's a photo of the castle:

Photo by Fawndolyn Valentine

And here's where they housed the book:

Photo by Fawndolyn Valentine

Here's a good webpage about the castle's history, with lots of old pictures, and a couple of ace links."


OUTSTANDING!  FAWNDOLYN VALENTINE is a bright young artist, and craft person and much more. (Her Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/diello)

"The official biography I give people is: "When I was five, my parents left me at a carnival.  By the time they came back for me, it was too late.  I haven't been fit for decent society since."

Fawndolyn creates object of beauty.  Ask her about them